Crocodiles in the Congo!

I had hoped to post a full and detailed account of Dr. Jones' adventure in the Congo, but with the end of the long summer holiday and the start of the academic year, time just seemed to evaporate. That said, I am determined to keep some sort of momentum going even if that is just stumbling through the occasional month in order to clear a backlog of half finished posts that I have built up.  

Back to the game in hand and rather than post a step by step report, I thought I would summarise the encounter, detailing some of my thought processes before sharing the photographs of the day.  The adventure was to be a homebrewed affair, sandwiching two of the given scenarios together - The Sanctuary and A River Runs through It.  This was to be played using the Forest Tribes and White Men Expeditions factions, using roughly equal points.  The teams were fairly standard in their make up, but for the sake of the narrative sailors replaced soldiers.  

Our story revolves around an artifact said to possess significant power; the holder of which is believed to be the rightful ruler of the jungle.  This has seen the rise of a truly fearsome tribe whose belief in their own invincibility has corrupted their moral sensibilities to the point where they take human sacrifice.  Of unknown origin, the artifact is the stuff of myth and legend and so not surprisingly Dr. Llewellyn Jones has been tasked with securing it for the British Museum.  Local scouts report that the cannibal shine, home to a great many artifacts and fetishes, is through the next clearing.  Dr. Jones and his column need to locate it and make their escape, through the swamp, to where they hope the paddle steamer will be waiting for them.  

As far as gameplay was concerned the Forest Tribes got to place six totems in their area of the table, these could be out in the open or hidden within the 'Dangerous Terrain'.   Each of the totems was numbered on the base, although not visible to the opposing player, before a D6 was rolled to establish which of these is to be considered the fabled artefact.  As soon as the explorers locate the artefact they can make a break for the river, but this will inevitably take them through the swamp.  When entering the swamp, and at the start of each following turn if still bogged down in it a D6 is rolled.  Depending on outcome the result could be inconsequential, stressful or an attack by one or a group of hungry crocodiles.  

The joy of the Congo ruleset is its unpredictability and even though Dr. Jones' column is carrying signifiant firepower the overwhelming numbers of the pygmy archers, who instantly win on the roll of any double, can turn a game in the flash of a poisoned dart.  Dr. Jones, unsurprisingly split his column into three teams with the scouts roaming ahead as a possible screen.   Ably assisted by another scientist, Dr. Jones headed off with the trained Askaris and a couple of bearers and immediately came across a totem, seemingly abandoned  in a clearing; alas it wasn't the one they were looking for.  Alerted to the presence of the Forest Tribes by the rustling of the undergrowth the party headed off in search of the fabled artifact.  Any slight advantage now nullified, it wasn't long before the local inhabitants closed with the famed explorer and in a frenzied assault the Askaris were cut to pieces, Dr. Jones forced to flee for his life.  Meanwhile, Lady Marion, escorted by a Royal Navy landing party, decided to risk exploring some dangerous terrain and as luck would have it located the artefact at her first attempt!  The chase was now very much on as Lady Marion and her team race towards to swamp and the hope of retrieval by the paddle steamer.  The Forest Tribes abandoned their toying of Dr. Jones, much to his relief and looked to close the gap as quickly as possible.  Dr. Jones, not one to give up gracefully made a series of daring, harrying attacks that gave the good Lady just the time she needed to make it to the swamp.  The comparative safety of cover was short lived as the surface of the swamp erupted with the thrashing of scaled tail and gnashing jaws - a crocodile attack!  Several good men were lost to this encounter, before the good Lady managed to extricate herself from the unforgiving terrain and started the swim for the steamer.  With the artifact no longer in the possession the Forest Tribes also succumbed to a reptilian ravishing allowing Marion the chance to pull herself up and onto the deck of the boat.

This effectively ended the game, a fast paced romp through the jungle with a movie like narrative and hugely entertaining fun.  Ideally we would run through the scenario a second time with the opposing players changing sides, but it had taken us a little longer than expected to remember the rules and so time was called.  Fabulous fun and always lovely to get this collection on the table, but I was also thrilled with the addition of the swamp mechanic that just seemed to ramp up the excitement at the end of the scenario.

Shoot 'n' Skedaddle

Just the briefest of posts to share some of the photographs taken of our game of Shoot 'n' Skedaddle.  Sadly the details are somewhat lost to the ravages of time, but essentially this is a fun, fast paced skirmish game that we played as a three header.  Each player had assembled a posse or gang of characters and charged around the board trying to capture the objectives whilst ducking waves of lead fired from an opposing player.  My understanding that these rules are free to play and can be found here.

An overview of the completed table, something that I found hugely rewarding and just revisiting the build in this series of posts has made me quite keen to add and develop it further.

The Scouring of Muchwhinging

They came and came again, three times before the day was done. Three times the villagers of Muchwhinging had to muster every ounce of courage they possessed in a seemingly vain attempt to repel this blight to the land. Casualties were taken on both sides, some wouldn't make it through the night. The evil would come gain, but would we be ready?

Joined by Messrs Bull and Templar, Awdry Towers played host to some Witchfinding fun, this weekend, brought to life by using the 'Donnybrook' rules. I have been beavering away since the start of the year, sketching out, planing, building terrain and painting miniatures*, but I think that it was fair to say that I was a little anxious by the prospect of the day. I was pleased with how the table looked, but here I was trying to introduce two veteran 40K Gamers to the dark and difficult world of 17th Century England, using a rule set that I had no experience of; as they say, what could possibly go wrong?

*some only finished were only finished this week! 

As it happens, everything, but in the best possible way!  It was clear from the outset that 'Donnybrook', looks to champion the chaos of skirmish battles during the period of black powder.  The mechanic of character cards, drawn randomly, plays brilliantly to this ethos and is a manageable step for someone whose gaming experience is limited to board games and a recent foray into the jungles of the Congo.  Both gentlemen had been forewarned to bring a sense of humour and I am delighted to report that much laughter ensued.  

Once again, however, I have singularly failed in taking enough photographs or recording events in the detailed required to relay a full and edifying report; I was having far too much fun if the truth be told.  What I can tell you is that we played the same scenario three times, allowing each player to get a couple of turns to get to grips with the rules and a particular faction.  The 'prelude', had hinted at the objective, simply defend the village of Muchwhinging and see off the forces of evil.  Although pared down, and with some made up characters the games seemed to be fairly balanced with the result coming down to the last handful of units.  What follows is a series of images to help convey some of the action.

To a game that was already chaotic enough we added a touch more frivolity by adding the 'event' card to the final two encounters.  'The Dark Templar' looked on incredulously as his hero, Alain de la Slaughter, in Manbat form, was lured by Helen Highwater, the village Doxy, to her boudoir before slipping a stiletto blade between his ribs.  All this shortly after a previous event card saw his terrifying Ghouls, pack up and leave the battlefield, apparently missing their friends and families** - oh how we chortled; well maybe not all of us!

**or should that be fiends and familiars? 

On reflection, I was absolutely thrilled with how the day went.  Yes, Donnybrook is a tad light for some, but perfect for what we wanted.  The ability to build on the narrative and enjoy the role playing element is a lot of fun, especially when played with likeminded souls.  To that end, I need to thank both Mike 'The Dark Templar' Reynolds and 'Bullcher Feb' who's participation, good humour and support was paramount in making this such an enjoyable day.

Addendum:

Both Mike and Bull have each kindly written up a report of the day, which can be found by following the links below.  Once again Chaps, my heartfelt thanks.

A day of gaming that will long live in the memory! - Bullcher Feb

Donnybrook Witchfinder - Mike Reynolds